How to Pack Photo Albums for a Move

The professional movers at All My Sons Moving & Storage help residential movers with expert packing services to get everything you own, including your photo albums, secured for the move. If you are packing yourself and looking to protect your precious photo albums, read these tips from the pros to ensure you can enjoy your albums for years to come.

From your baby’s first ultrasound pictures to the inherited polaroids of your beloved grandparents, if you keep photo albums you know there’s something very special about having a captured moment that you can keep. Your photo albums may even contain scrapbooked mementos like graduation announcements, playbills, thank you cards, and ticket stubs. Every piece represented a memory you want to hang onto, so when it comes time to make your local or long-distance move, there’s no way you’ll leaving any of your cherished photo albums behind.

But how do you get all those memories from point A to point B without damaging or losing any of your beautiful photo albums? All My Sons Moving & Storage helps pack all kinds of household items for moves across the country, and we’ve got a five-step process for packing your photo albums.

As you take your photo albums off your shelves, check their condition. Any damage to your photo albums should be noted and repaired before your move to make sure your albums can make the journey safely, or survive their time in storage. 

• Dust Your Albums: Dust and grim might have accumulated on the pages or covers, so give your albums a quick wipe down with a soft microfiber cloth. If you discover that the pictures themselves require dusting or restoration, follow Forever Studio’s Guide for How to Clean Old Photographs or enlist the help of a photograph restoration professional. 

• Assess Pages: Turn pages of your albums and look for any loose photographs or mementos. If it is not possible to re-adhere the photograph or memento to its previous location, take the item out of the photo album and put it with your loose photographs. 

• Put Loose Photos in Photo Boxes: To protect your loose photographs, you should pack them into small boxes designed for photo storage. You can find special photo boxes at hobby and craft retail stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. Once the box is full, tape the lid shut to keep photos inside.

• Make Digital Backups of Special Pieces: Photographs and mementos that are close to your heart should also be digitally preserved to help lengthen their lifespans. You can invest in a scanner and do it yourself, or hire a service like EverPresent or Memory Fortress to digitize entire scrapbooks for you.

When you have determined a photo album is in good condition, prepare it for the next step in packing.

Since photo albums can add up in weight very quickly, you should use small to medium boxes to pack and store them. Use the same boxes that are designed for packing books, vinyl records, or media collections like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays. 

Line the inside of your boxes with acid-free packing paper, bubble wrap, or some soft household items like clothes or linens. This will help with shock absorption if your box of photo albums gets jostled.

Albums with delicate covers should be wrapped in acid-free packing paper for extra protection. Put a stiff piece of cardboard between albums that are likely to stick to each other.

You can lay photo albums in boxes flat or vertically with the spines along the side of the box. Once you have packed as many photo albums as can comfortably fit in your box, proceed to step 4.

Empty space in your photo album box should be filled with additional packing material like bubble wrap, acid-free packing paper, or packing peanuts. 

Overloaded boxes are a recipe for injured movers and damaged photo albums. Before you seal your box, check the box’s weight and make sure that you can lift it. If you are unable to lift the box, repack it with some lighter material inside. 

Close up your small to medium boxes and tape them shut. Label your boxes with the room that they belong to and what they contain. If you are not creating a full moving inventory, be sure to list out the contents of your moving box in as much detail as possible. If you go looking for a specific photo album soon after your move then you will be glad you thought ahead.

Draw an arrow on your box to indicate the correct orientation for the box, and prepare to move.

With your photo albums safe at your new home, you’ll be able to gather around the fireplace and open up your albums to share memories with your children and grandchildren for years to come. Enjoy these precious moments, and take a few pictures for next year’s albums too.

Are you moving soon? All My Sons Moving & Storage can do everything from the professional packing to the heavy lifting. Call 1-866-726-1579 to reach one of our 90+ locations across the nation or use our online quote form to get started on your move.